Freight-car



UNITED STATES PATENT 0FFICE PERRY BROWN, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

FREIGHT-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 382,635, dated May 15,1888.

' Application filed August 25, 1887.

To all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that I, PERRY BROWN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State ofKentucky, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements inFreight-Oars, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad therein to the accompanying drawings, in'which- Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a car. Fig. 2 is a similar view of a car of modifiedconstruction. Fig. 3 is an end view with a portion broken away and partsshown in section. Fig. 4 is a view of the car-door from the inside,showing the manner of locking the same. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of aportion of a car, showing a different form of door. Fig. 6 is a sectionon the line :0 a: of Fig. 4, and Fig. 7 is a detail on an enlargedscale.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements infreightcars, and has for its object to so construct the car that it canbe used at pleasure for either stock or fruit or grain.

I do not claim, broadly, a convertible car, for I am aware that such hasbeen heretofore proposed, but in an entirely different way.

It often, and in fact most always, happens thatin the transportation offreight there is a surplus of one kind of cars. and a scarcity ofanother, so that there is constantly a moving of a lotof empty cars Forexample, cars that are adapted for the transportation of fruit or stock,where ventilation is necessary, are not capable of being used for thetransportation of coal, grain, and the like, so that while carrying aload one way they have to be brought back empty, thus increasing thelabor and necessitating a much larger amount of rolling stock of acompany. My improvement aims to economize in this matter by soconstructing the car'that it may be used in one direction to carry fruitor stock, and on the return trip utilized for the transportation ofgrain, coal, or other like materials.

To the aboveends and to such others as the invention may pertain thesame consists in the peculiar combinations and the novel construe tion,arrangement, and adaptation of parts, all as more fully hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

Serial No. 247,866. (No model.)

Referring to the details of the drawings, A represents the body of acar, which, as shown in Fig. 1, has closes'i-des up to the line a, abovewhich point, instead of being closed, is slatted, either by means oflongitudinal slats, as seen at the right of said figure, or bylattice-work, as seen at the left, in either case the pieces comprisingthe open-work being secured to the outer face of the vertical studs ofthe car,

as shown. In order to adapt this car for use in carrying grain, coal,and like small matters, I provide the following means: B is a tight doorhinged to the inner wall of the car and adapted to be swung up out ofthe way when the car is used, as shown in Fig. 1, and for this purposeit is provided near its-bottom with an eyebolt, a, designed to engage ahook, a, secured to-the top of the car, as shown in Fig. 3. When shut,as shown in Fig. 3, this door closes the slatted side and forms anair-tight joint. The hinge-connection of this door is so constructed asto permit of a slight verti cal movement of the door, and at its lowerside is provided with a plate, 12, to form a rabbet, which when the dooris dropped down, as seenin Fig. 3, engages the upwardly-extend ingflange, b, of a plate, (3, secured to the sill of the door, (see alsoFig. 6,) which, though. referring to the main door, is of likeconstruction.

To the outer face of the door is secured an inverted-L-shaped hook, c,which as the door is let down hooks over and engages a bar, 0', securedto the inner face of the vertical studs of the car. It will, of course,be understood that I provide one of these doors for each of the slattedparts of the car. In Fig.1 these doors are not seen, as they are hookedup out of the way.

Instead of having the slatted portions of the car of the form shown inFig. 1, I sometimes prefer the manner shown in Fig. 2, in which Dindicates slatted castings or frames, secured to the outside of the carover openi-ngsith'ere. in, which openings are designed to, be'clos'edfrom the inside by the doors E, which fit into sockets formed in thewalls of the car, as seen the left of Fig. 2, so that the said door maybe opened by itself, or the door, frame, and casting may all be openedtogether when occasion may require; or, in lieu of either of the aboveshown in Fig. 3, and at its sides is provided with lugs d, which fitinto sockets d, secured to the inside of the ear, and transversely nearthe center of its height is formed with a chamber, e, in which work thebolts G, which engage sockets in the vertical timbers of the door-frame.These bolts are pivoted at their inner ends to a lever, II, secured tothe bolt of the seal-lock I in such a manner that the opening of thelock withdraws the bolts. It is sometimes desirable to not open thewhole door, but only a small portion thereof, and to provide for this Iform an opening in the upper part of said door, and close it by a door,

J, the bottom of which is provided with a plate, j, to form a rabbet,like that of the door B, to engage a plate on the sill of the door J.The opening j is a little wider than the door to accommodate the cleatk, secured across the inner face of the top of said door, so that whenthe door is in the position shown-in Fig. 4 said cleat, together withthe lock formed at the bottom of the door, will prevent its falling out.

To lock the door in place I attach to the I bolt of the seal-lock anarm, K, notched at its free end to engage a pin, k, on the bottom of thedoor. This arm is designed to be operated simultaneously with the boltsG, so that a single lock locks both doors. The main door E, to beopened, must first be raised and then lifted forward, and when opened issupported by means of the chains L, suspended from the rod L, as seen inFig. 1. This door J may be constructed like the door at the left of Fig.2, or be simply a slatted door, as shown in Fig. 1, hinged at the top,so as to be swung back when desired; or I may sometimes prefer to formit in two parts, hinged, as shown in Fig. 5, and locked by means of avertical bolt, M, slotted, as shown, to engage pins m on one portion ofthe door, and having a T-shaped head and beveled lip to engage sockets n0 on the car.

In order to permit of the ready filling of the car with grain or coal,Iform in the top of the car an opening, g, in which Isecure the gasketor casting 71, and above this opening I hinge a portion of the top orrun-board, as shown at i, and depending from this hinged portion is acollar, 1', designed when down, as shownin Fig. 7, to fit the gasket andform a tight joint.

As a protection for the brakemen riding on the top of the car, I securealong the outer edge of the roof a guard, N, supported by means of theuprights N or in any other suitable manner. If the top of the carbecomes slippery, as it often does, and the brakeman in walking alongthe roof should slip, he would be caught by the guard and his lifesaved, while if the guard were not there he would probably be dashed tothe ground and seriously injured if not killed outright.

What I claim as new is-- 1. In a freight-car, the combination of theside wall having the lower half permanently closed and the upper halfpermanently slatted, of a door having a vertically-movable hingedconnection at the top, and a rabbeted look at the bottom for tightlyclosing said slatted portion, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

2. In a freight-car, the combination,with the carbody having an openingin its side wall,of a frame, E, hinged to said side wall, the slats onsaid frame, and the door E, and a double hinge connecting said framesand also hinging the frame E to the wall, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

3. In a freightcar, a door having a rabbeted lock at the bottom, lockingmeans nearitsvertical center, and holding means upon opposite sides ofthe central lock, substantially as shown and described.

4. In a freight-car, a door provided with a supplemental door, and meansfor simultaneously locking said supplemental door to the main door andthe main door to the frame, substantially as described.

5. In a freightcar, a door provided with a supplemental door, combinedwith transverse bolts on the main door, a bolt constructed to lock saidsupplemental door to the main door, and means for operating all of saidbolts simultaneously, as set forth.

6. The combination, with a car having an opening in its top and acasting around said opening, of a hinged portion of the run-board, and adepending flange carried by said hinged portion and constructed toembrace said casting, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses,this 25th day of August, 1887.

' PERRY BROWN. Witnesses:

\V. T. ROBERTSON, JoHN N. QLIVER.

ICC

